Good morning and welcome to the weekend. Saturday’s looking like a wonderful sunny day — but some rain tomorrow.
Yesterday afternoon, we reported on the tragedy at The Victory on 10th Avenue where a woman jumped from the rooftop of the building with her dog.
Anyone considering suicide should contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or can chat with someone live on its website.
Here’s what’s been happening around Hell’s Kitchen this week.
Last weekend, the popular dog walking area around Pier 83/84 was the scene of a dramatic rescue of a dog and owner who had ended up in the Hudson River. More details here (with a happy ending)…
Did you tune in to watch the new Apple TV+ comedy series Schmigadoon this week? We hope you watched while eating one of Zachary Schmahl’s delicious new Schmackary’s cookies baked specially for the show. More deliciousness here…
Also in Schmigadoon, we spotted Sam Strasfeld, fitness instructor at Mark Fisher Fitness on W39th Street. If you’ve watched an episode, you might have seen his bearded face amongst the dancers — and if not, you can see him front right in the picture below, alongside Kristin Chenoweth.
For some reason, I’m drawn to Thornless Honey Locusts; my friend, Alexis — who sent me down this path — has taken to writing about the Callery Pear; and I’ve realized that Restaurant Row has an amazing Ginkgo!
These are not imaginative names for cocktails — they are the names of trees on the sidewalks of our Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. They’re good for so many things (including water drainage and air quality — both relevant in recent weeks). We discovered that every single New York street tree is mapped and identified. More details here…
What a difference a day made for Sal Salomon. In 24 little hours, Sal’s GoFundMe — started by HK Litter Legion’s Catie Savage — raised over $10,000. The rush to support Sal was helped by a feature from Nicholas Heller and his Instagram account @newyorknico.
Sal’s next step is to find a Hell’s Kitchen landlord to rent to him. Know anyone?
Catie has also been quietly raising money for Jan — who’s our supplemental street cleaner on 9th Avenue. He was one of those in a local hotel during the pandemic but has been moved back to a congregate shelter in Brownsville. She’s working to get him into housing with Clinton Housing Development Co. If you want to help, there’s a Paypal Pool.
We were in Times Square to watch Jeff Bezos’s flight into space. If you missed the launch, we captured a cute video of a family watching at the Crossroads of the World. After the flight, Bezos awarded $100m to Chef Jose Andres, founder of World Central Kitchen, to continue his food relief non-profit work.
What’s next for Jeff? Maybe sorting out the CD sellers in Times Square?
For the past 6 weeks, we’ve had two autonomous vehicles driving around New York hands-free in a test authorized by the State. Mobileye has learned much about the Big Apple’s special challenges — they outline seven of them here. Christine Berthet from Hell’s Kitchen transport action group, CHEKPEDS says: “A car is a car: there are too many of them in our limited space. And who are you going to yell at if no one is driving them?”
Where’s your favorite Hell’s Kitchen Wine Bar? We’re looking to find out your go-to place to sip a glass of red, white or rose.
Share your secret and we’ll enter you into a sweepstake for two tickets to Speakeasy at Bond 45. The supper club burlesque experience is described as “a bawdy, boozy night of revelry that goes down easy.” It’s been extended through August.
Enter now — favorite Hell’s Kitchen Wine Bar!
Hell’s Kitchen can claim to be a hub of comedy satire — “The Daily Show” celebrated its 25-year anniversary this week and has always been filmed in the neighborhood. We also discovered that the first episodes of “The Problem with Jon Stewart” were filmed on W57th Street last week More details here…
Remember Vicky Kuperman? She was a regular columnist in W42ST magazine pre-pandemic. Vicky has teamed up with her husband, Max Cohen, to co-produce “Love’s a Joke,” a comedy night featuring all comedy couples. Tonight will be their first show back in the city at Don’t Tell Mama. Sizzle reel below — tickets here!
If you are missing the Upright Citizens Brigade after they shuttered on W42nd Street, maybe a trip to their old venue in Chelsea might help. “The Curfew”, one of UCB’s longest-running shows, will be on stage at Asylum NYC (next to Gristedes on W26th St) tonight. Tickets and details here…
What we’ve been reading
NYPD needled about their 43% vaccination rate. (New York Post)
The Rockettes will be back high kicking at Radio City this holiday season. (amNY)
The challenges of “aging in place” in New York City. (City Limits)
“An unmitigated mess” — New York’s $2.7bn rent relief fund has released just $117,000. (Crain’s)
Remembering the slot machine racket of the 1930s. (New York Almanack)
Freeze Frame
Jim Lahey from Sullivan Street Bakery has just rediscovered his notebook from 1991. “I was obsessed with temperatures and time, that was before my obsession with PH a couple of years later. I haven’t seen this journal for over 13 years,” he recalled. “The notebook was used by my co-writer Rick Flaste to attempt to emulate my voice as well as understand my thinking. Instagram and Facebook did not exist. We went on to write a successful baking book titled ‘My Bread’.” The book became world-renowned for Jim’s no-work, no-knead method — although it looks like he put in a lot of work himself!